Tom’s Restaurant
“Don't miss out on eating at Tom's. Seinfeld fan or not, you won't be disappointed in this diner stop.”
“The diner's been catering to students at Columbia University since the beginning of time.”
“As it was a little later in the evening (maybe 9pm) there were no tourists around (besides us) just Columbia students having snacks.”
Tom’s Restaurant
Take-out: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Being huge fans of Seinfeld, it was a no-brainer for my husband and I to stop in here while visiting NYC. The outside of the restaurant looks exactly how you see it on the show. The inside, however, looks completely different. Instead of blueish walls and light colored booths and tables, everything is mainly wood paneling. This did not disappoint us, however.
When we entered the restaurant, we were seated right away. Our server was a very sweet Greek woman who was a lot of fun to talk to. She has worked at Tom's for 26 years!
The food here is what one would expect at a diner type establishment. It is very good, and very reasonably priced as well. And kudos on the portion sizes. I had the lox and onion omelette with American fries, and my husband had the double cheeseburger. When one thinks of a double cheeseburger, you think of one burger with 2 patties on it. Not at Tom's. Here, you get 2 large burgers on your plate. We both enjoyed our meals thoroughly.
We will definitely be coming back here the next time we are in NYC.
Hey, we just came because we like Seinfeld. We drank a cup of coffee, took a few pictures and left. The interior is definitely not the same as it is on the show, and from what I understand the restaurant isn't anything special, but the neighborhood makes for great exploring, is very close to Columbia University which is nice to walk through and just down the way is The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which is definitely worth seeing in person.
I give myself bonus points for cueing up the Seinfeld intro bass riff on youtube and playing it at full volume on my phone as we walked up. Tourist level 1,000,000!!!
Who doesn't love Seinfeld? Okay, if you don't then you need to get a sense of humor. This place is iconic. I went in knowing, based on Yelp reviews, it's just a diner. Get over yourself if you want to wait in a touristy place. I'm all about the one photo opt then moving on. Lunch/breakfast was fine here. The waitress moved quick so our food didn't take long. It was typical diner food-just basic. My biggest peeve-the small, paper thin napkins. Bacon and mozzarella quality was pretty low too in the grilled cheese, but my standards are low for city diners. People seemed to like the milkshakes. I'd recommend swinging by-if only even for a new Facebook photo (who doesn't want to be cool?).
Come here frequently with the family for breakfast before we go to work. EVERY SINGLE DAY the service is FABULOUS. The 4 of us are creatures of habit, we get the same thing every time:
Scrambled eggs with bacon (sometines sausage)
Fried egg whites and whole wheat toast
Corned beef hash ann whole wheat toast
The food is perfectly prepared every time AND our waiter knows our order as soon as we enter so we're served immediately.
The people here are so friendly and funny! Every visit is a pleasure!
This place has turned into something of a shameless tourist gimmick, though nowhere near as bad as it must have been in the 1990s at the height of the Seinfeld craze (post-"Office" decline in the multi-camera sitcom, I think, has quelled the craze somewhat; I find it hard to watch a show with such blatantly fake backdrops and a laugh track now.)
Tom's facade is Monk's on the TV show, and the place milks it up, with Seinfeld posters inside and "Jerry" and "Kramer" guardrails fencing in the tables outside. Food is standard diner fare, nothing special, nothing horrible. I generally go for the superb milkshakes, though, which are prepared with just the right amount of thickness so that it's not like chocolate milk OR like eating frozen yogurt or ice cream. Believe it or not, it's a hard sweet spot to hit, but Tom's does it right. But for a burger or a steak, go elsewhere.
Came here to get a pic outside as we are huge Seinfeld fans in our house! Definitely did not over expect, which it sounds like a lot of reviewers do.
This is what it is, a diner!
Absolutely no compliant with the service. We headed in and immediately were seated in a booth. Many regulars were seated at the bar. It was a very diverse crowd with many of the employees speaking Italian to one another.
The only negative was the ladies room was out of order, but nothing I would deduct a star from.
My hubby and I both love breakfast and for a 2/3pm lunch, ordered the Lumberjack. It was a short stack of pancakes (2) with sausage (1) , bacon (3) and eggs (2) for about $12 (if I can remember accurately).
I added chocolate chips to my cakes and we ordered coffee. Water came to the table immediately. Our server was quick and efficient. She was not overly chatty or impressive, but did her job well. She was to the point and returned with coffees and syrup surrounded by butter 'packets' when we said we wished butter to be on the side after she asked.
Our toast came out before our meals with a side of butter and jelly. I ordered rye, hubby white. It was hot and crunchy, just as toast should be.
Our meals followed about 4 mins later and we really enjoyed the portion and the kielbasa sausage (I think that's what it was). Bacon was little and crispy, but very nice.
So much for for the price, but not so huge like Denny's style. I'd come back if in the neighborhood.
Really enjoyed our dining experience. People need to chill out. This place is kitschy and a diner.
TL, DR: Coffee and toast were fine; the rest was horrid. For nostalgia purposes only.
This was my second Seinfeld pilgrimage while in NYC. Rarely do I get excited about celebrity/Hollywood ANYTHING, but I'm a total fan of the show.. what can I say?
I went in knowing the food was probably sucky, so originally was going to order a coffee and slice of pie. Then I figured, "I have a long walk afterwards; might as well eat something more substantial." I figured a simple order of an omelette and hash browns couldn't possibly be messed up.
WELLLLL… yeahhhhh. This was the second-worst diner food I've had in my life. Can't say I wasn't warned by the previous reviewers, huh?
I ordered coffee, along with the Mushroom Omelette (comes with hash browns and toast). My total was $13.
The toast? That was the best part.
Omelette: If you like omelettes with FRESH veggies, skip this, because they use canned. Ick.
Hash browns: Probably the worst things I've eaten in my entire life. The potatoes were partially UNDERcooked, yet had obviously been sitting around a while – they had this orangey-brown color throughout – and were clearly rewarmed on the griddle for my order. There was a random piece of green bell pepper and a random piece of onion in them, too. ?!
Service was whatever. It wasn't busy, and I sat at the counter. The guy was literally right in front of me watching the soccer match on TV, but I had to ask for a coffee refill.
The coffee, surprisingly, wasn't awful, and was piping hot.
Would I return? Yes, because I'm a Seinfeld fan and an obvious sucker for nostalgia. Next time, though, only for coffee and pie!
Like countless other yelpers, I came to Tom's because of its pop culture significance. My expectations were tempered by the reviews and also the fact that places which can get by not on their merits but on a steady stream of tourists aren't usually very good. Overall, the food was about what you'd expect for an average diner. Not fancy, a little bland, but still you get giant portions of greasy, satisfying diner classics. I had the fried chicken cutlet sandwich with fries and it was exactly what I was craving, so it really hit the spot.
The thing that brings the experience way, way down was the godawful service. We sat for at least 10 minutes before anyone even noticed us, and when we finally got someone's attention, we got a gruff "Ok, so what do you want?" as if our wanting to order food was really interfering with this lady's other important plans. Food came out pretty quick, so the kitchen was on point even with a packed house. But my food arrived a couple minutes after my dining partner's, and my empty coffee cup was passed over multiple times before I had to finally grab someone and ask for a refill.
The check was delivered mid-meal with a blatant overtone of "come on, hurry it up here people" our waitress came by to remind us to hurry up while I tried to finish my coffee. Another annoyance is that they only take cash, and the Canadian quarter in my change was the "fuck you" cherry on top of the shitty service sundae.
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So sure, go there for the photo op with the legendary sign. But don't bother going inside because they don't deserve your business.